The Ultimate Recycling Plan!

Join Green Bellevue for its last program of 2018 to hear Thomas M. Belford of John A. Gentleman Mortuary explain Green Burial options. Learn about the Green Burial and Scatter Garden sections of the Bellevue Cemetery, and discover information about the Nebraska Anatomical Board end-of-life options.

Following this program, you are invited to join in an interactive Q&A session. Green Bellevue meetings are free and open to the public, so invite your friends! Please note that even though the Bellevue Public Library is closed this day, the meeting room will still be open!

On October 6, 2018,
Green Bellevue President Don Preister
opened up his home to the public as part of a national tour organized by
the American Solar Energy Society Don's home was one
of six solar arrays on the tour, an event locally sponsored by Green Bellevue,
Nebraskans for Solar and the Nebraska Chapter Sierra Club.

Don's green lifestyle is also being featured in the
news! Check out the stories below:

September 12, 2018 – Green Bellevue announced today that 15 new recycling containers have been delivered to the two Bellevue Public School High Schools. They will be used during sporting and other events. The green, co-branded recycling containers will be placed next to all trash containers to collect the high volume of plastic bottles that are purchased and discarded at the events. This initial contribution is expected to be the beginning of future improvements that will lower landfill waste from Bellevue Public Schools.

The purchase of recycling bins has been a goal of the Green Bellevue Board of Directors for several years. One of the founding members, Ruth Richter, said she has been aware of the need for recycling collection containers at the schools since her two high school-aged boys started elementary school. “Providing recycling collection containers not only will lower the amount of recyclable waste that is going to the landfill, but it will also serve to students, showing that recycling is easy and better on the environment,” said Ruth Richter. “Green Bellevue has been applying for grants and earmarking funds raised from the annual Sarpy Earth Day event for about four years,” Richter continued. It wasn’t until recent graduates Lilly West and Kat Woerner joined the Board as student representatives (Kat attended West and started as a junior and Lilly joined the Board last year as a senior from East) that the project took a top priority. Each student had been advocating for more recycling in their schools and were determined to ensure that the project was in process before they graduated.

Andy Severson, the newly hired BPS District Supervisor of Custodial Services, also played a key role in getting the recycling project underway. “Andy has been great to work with, he really gets the need to step up the recycling collection and is ready to ensure that the carts will be well-used,” says Richter. The possibility of new carts was so well received that the group met on August 15th to discuss how many were needed for successful collection of recycling from the sports events, and to brainstorm on a successful implementation and oversight plan, and Green Bellevue received the go-ahead to place the order on August 22nd.

The bins will be moved around at each school based on the sports calendar. Green Bellevue and Bellevue Public Schools are considering starting an application system for the schools to request containers, along with their plan to use the containers, to ensure there are enough to increase the success of the program. Andy Severson will be sitting on the Green Bellevue board in the coming year as will Gillian Cromwell from Hillside Solutions – Green Bellevue plans to next address composting in the schools.

ZERO WASTE:A Better Way

Presenter: Gillian Cromwell with Hillside Solutions

Join Green Bellevue to learn what ‘zero waste’ means, how it can be accomplished, and simple steps everyone can take in their daily lives to be more conscious of their waste profiles. Presenter Gillian Cromwell will also talk about how Hillside Solutions is bringing 'zero waste' awareness to our community and working to reduce the metro area’s waste footprint. Hillside Solutions currently has the area's only commercial composting farm and has recently started picking up glass for recycling. Take a virtual tour to find out how Hillside Solutions is helping businesses, schools, apartments, and events go zero waste! Interactive Q&A session to follow. Green Bellevue meetings are open to the public.

SPEAKER BIO: Gillian Cromwell is a self-described lifelong tree-hugger. She served as President of UNO's Environmental Club for two years while studying as a biology undergrad. She is currently an MPA student at UNO concentrating in Public Management. Gillian works as a Sustainability Consultant with Hillside Solutions, General Manager of Farnam House Brewing Company, and also for Shadowbrook Farm/Dutch Girl Creamery at the Omaha Farmers' Market. She is passionate about supporting sustainable local food networks, diverting waste from the landfill, and spending time with her cat, Chicken.

Walk with us in theArrows to Aerospace Parade!

THIS SATURDAY, AUGUST 18line up starts at 9:30 a.m.parade starts at 10 a.m.

We are #91 out of 112 groups.

Are you an Environment Champion? Do you support a greener, cleaner community? Come show your support by walking with Green Bellevue in the Arrows to Aerospace Parade this Saturday! Join us in promoting environmentally-friendly practices as we carry banners and roll a huge Earth inflatable down Mission Street. We will be distributing information about our mission, upcoming events, and why it is so important to vote this November for candidates and measures that will protect our environment! See our flyer below!

This is a good opportunity to wear your Green Bellevue or Earth Day t-shirts. If you do not own one, any green shirt will do, or contact us if you would like to purchase a shirt and we will bring it to the parade. If you have a display of some kind (like a wagon with a recycling bin, butterfly or bee wings, or an earth-friendly poster) please bring it! Come prepared for the weather and pack a hat, sunscreen, water bottle, comfortable shoes, etc.

If you haven’t been in the parade in the past, the best place to park is behind the CVS Pharmacy at 1701 Galvin Road S. From there you can walk to the parade line up on Lincoln Road near Bert Murphy. If you are able to plan it with a group, it’s helpful to drop a car off by Washington Park in the a.m. to help bring everyone back to their cars at the end of the parade. The line up starts at9:30 a.m. and will begin on Lincoln Road near the library and continue to Bert Murphy Boulevard. We are number 91 out of 112. The parade starts at 10:00 a.m.

The walk is about 1-mile long. All are welcome (even dogs), so invite your friends to join us for a fun time while supporting a good cause! After the parade, join in the festivities at Washington Park in Olde Towne Bellevue. Green Bellevue will have a booth to distribute information about our initiatives and will be giving out reusable bags.

The Good, the Bad and the Beautiful:

Invasive, Native & Beneficial Insects of the Midlands

PRESENTER: DR. TED BURK,PROFESSOR OF BIOLOGY, CREIGHTON UNIVERSITY

SUNDAY, AUGUST 12

1:30 – 3:00 p.m.

Come to Green Bellevue's August meeting to hear about insects - both good and bad - from featured presenter Dr. Ted Burk, Professor of Biology at Creighton University. Dr. Burk will discuss the recent wave of new invasives like Japanese Beetles, Chinese Mantids, Emerald Ash Borers, and Asian multi-colored Ladybugs, but will then reverse course and talk about how there are so many more beneficial insects, including pollinators and natural enemies of other insects. Learn how we can appreciate our native insects and cultivate them by doing things like planting butterfly and pollinator gardens, cutting back on pesticides, and planting native plant species. With the loss of natural habitats due to human activities, it is important we work to mitigate some of the negative effects by increasing biodiversity in our gardens, parks, schoolyards, and other non-traditional wildlife lands.

ABOUT THE PRESENTER: Ted Burk grew up in the small town of Scranton, Kansas, and attended the University of Kansas, graduating in 1974 with a B.A. in Biology. He was a graduate student at New College of the University of Oxford as a Danforth Fellow and Rhodes Scholar, earning a D. Phil. in Zoology in 1979 under the supervision of the controversial evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins. After a three-year postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Florida, he joined the Creighton University Biology Department in 1982, becoming Professor of Biology in 1996. He was Chair of the Department of Biology from 1990 to 2000 and Interim Chair of the Department of Environmental and Atmospheric Sciences in 2002-2003. He has received the Creighton College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Awards for Excellence in Teaching, Outstanding Advising, and Professional Excellence in Service. He teaches a wide variety of courses at Creighton, including Animal Behavior, Conservation Biology, and Entomology. His research interests are in behavioral and conservation biology, especially of insects; his ongoing study of prairie butterfly populations and their flower use is in its 21st year. He is the author of 30 papers and book chapters and is co-author of the textbook Biology of Animal Behavior. Much of his professional activity involves “citizen science” projects in which members of the public help collect information important in conservation of wild species and habitats.A full Q&A session will follow!

Green Bellevue events are free and open to the public. Bring a friend!

We will be meeting in our regular location at Nebraska Medicine - Bellevue in the lower level meeting room area in Conference Room A. You can park in the visitor parking lot and enter through the main door. Go down the stairs, make a "u-turn" and Conference A is down the hall on your left.

The First 'R': Reduce

Finding ways to live with less plastic.

PRESENTER: RACHEL CARRAHER, SCIENCE TEACHER AT BELLEVUE EAST HIGH SCHOOL

SUNDAY, JULY 8

1:30 – 3:00 p.m.

Come to Green Bellevue's July program to hear about how you can live a less wasteful life! Presenter Rachel Carraher, a science teacher at Bellevue East High School, will be sharing ways to reduce consumption with an emphasis on plastic consumption. She will be addressing our plastic pollution problem through a series of videos and pictures, and will leave you with ideas of simple steps you can take to live with less plastic waste.

Green Bellevue events are free and open to the public. Bring a friend!

We will be meeting in our regular location at Nebraska Medicine - Bellevue in the lower level meeting room area in Conference Room A. You can park in the visitor parking lot and enter through the main door. Go down the stairs, make a "u-turn" and Conference A is down the hall on your left.

Thanks to Green Bellevue board members and volunteer high school students - and our partners at Hillside Solutions, First Star Fiber, and Papillion Sanitation - this year's Bellevue Food Stock event was officially Zero Waste! This was a hugely successful effort that shows how changing our behaviors in simple ways can make significant positive impacts on our environment.

Green Bellevue's free June Solar Energy program is an update on existing Community Solar arrangements being used in Nebraska, what options are available to Bellevue, and what legislative changes make sense to open up solar for homeowners who don’t have rooftop options. An interactive Q&A session will follow the program.

CLIFF MESNER and his wife Kathy are attorneys and the owners of Mesner Development Co. in Central City, Nebraska. Cliff served as the City Attorney and Economic Development Director of Central City for more than 25 years. The Mesners have been involved in community development work in Central City and throughout rural Nebraska for many years, mostly in the development of affordable and workforce housing. Working with Michael Shonka out of Omaha, the Mesners developed the first community solar garden in Nebraska, located in Central City. Mesner Development continued doing solar development as an outgrowth of their real estate development company. They developed and own the first two community solar pilot projects for NPPD. Last year they helped develop community solar projects with GenPro Energy Solutions totaling 2.5 MW in Central City, Gothenburg and Fremont. This year they have projects they are helping to develop in a number of communities in Nebraska. The Mesners live in a net zero carbon home, have solar power for their office and drive electric cars powered by the solar panels they own in the Central City solar garden.

Green Bellevue events are free and open to the public. Bring a friend!

The meeting takes place in the Lower Level Conference Room A. When you enter the main doors, go down the stairs to your left, make a u-turn, and the meeting room is down the hall on your left.

Green Bellevue is participating in Omaha Gives for the fourth year, and we are looking to our enthusiastic supporters for donations during this 24-hour charitable challenge!

The online giving holiday will take place Wednesday, May 23, and we will need your help to raise money together and compete for hourly prizes. The more donors we get to give to us, the more likely we are to win prizes.

By giving to Green Bellevue, you'll help support our efforts to enhance our neighborhoods, preserve our natural resources and foster stewardship of our environment. Your donation will help fund the following programs and initiatives:

Monthly Educational Programs

Annual Sarpy County Earth Day Celebration

Tree Plantings & Invasive Tree Removal

Veteran's Home & City Garden Maintenance & Replanting

Improving Recycling through Education

Working to Improve Recycling in Schools

Bellevue Farmers Market

Planting Milkweed & Other Pollinator Attracting Plants

You can schedule your online donation today, or follow us on Facebook and Twitter on May 23 to find out how you can best help us win prizes! We thank you for your support. Get ready to give!